The invention relates to a machine, especially a (cigarette) packaging and/or producing machine, having a number of interacting units assemblies and elements, to a network and to a method for maintaining and/or diagnosing such machines.
Packaging machines, especially cigarette packaging machines but also cigarette producing machines, are characterized by a very complex construction. The interacting units, assemblies and elements, especially folding turret, cigarette magazine, conveyor for cigarettes and packs etc., are constructed and arranged in relation to one another in such a way that the visual detection and monitoring of the movement sequences and the states of individual elements by machine personnel are made extraordinarily difficult. This leads to the situation where faults which develop gradually, in particular contamination of elements or parts of the same, cannot always be detected and stopped in good time. In addition, the maintenance, fault detection and fault rectification of such machines are complicated, because of their complexity.
The invention is therefore based on the object of improving the maintenance of machines of the type mentioned at the beginning. In addition, the invention is based on the object of constructing such machines, specifically in particular packaging machines for cigarettes or the like, in such a way that the working and movement sequences and any developing faults or actual faults can be detected more easily and better.
In order to achieve this object, a machine according to the invention has an interface for exchanging data, especially bidirectionally, between the machine and a network which is or can be connected.
In order to achieve this object, a further (packaging) machine according to the invention is characterized by at least one optical monitoring elementxe2x80x94cameraxe2x80x94whose optical receiver, especially an objective, is connected to the monitoring element or the camera via an elongate, especially deformable, optical line, the optical receiver, that is to say especially the objective, being arranged at a position which cannot be looked at or is difficult to access.
The object is further achieved by a network comprising one or more such machines and a diagnostic and/or control-desk computer for monitoring the functions of the machines that are connected and/or a service computer for carrying out maintenance and/or fault elimination measures on the machines that are connected.
Finally, the object is achieved by a method for maintaining and/or diagnosing machines, especially (cigarette) packaging and/or producing machines, in which data, in particular audio and/or video data and/or machine data, are exchanged via a network with a diagnostic and/or control-desk computer and/or service computer.
Networking such machines has the advantage that, outside the actual production rooms, on computers which are likewise connected to the network, measures can be carried out which act directly on the machine. For instance, machine data can be interrogated from a control-desk or diagnostic computer, which can be located at any desired distance from the machine. However, from such a control-desk or diagnostic computer it is possible not only to interrogate data relating to the machine but also to feed new data into the machine. This can be of interest, especially in the case of updating software. Finally, control measures on the machine may also be performed from such a control-desk or diagnostic computer. In this case, a camera fitted to the machine can preferably be pivoted and zoomed into specific machines areas. Such a camera adjustment can be carried out manually, especially from the control-desk or diagnostic computer, but also, particularly preferably, automatically on the basis of a fault message relating to the machine and output by a sensor fitted to the machine.
In particular, however, by means of a camera fitted to the machine, it is possible for a video conference with the control-desk computer and diagnostic computer to be set up. In this case, this control-desk or diagnostic computer likewise preferably has an appropriate camera.
However, the network can also have a connection xe2x80x9cto the outsidexe2x80x9d. Thus, for example, via a WAN (Wide Area Network), a connection can be made to a computer set up, for example, at the machine manufacturer. This computer is preferably a so-called service computer. It also has the possibility of setting up a video conference. In addition, by means of this service computer, interventions can be made in the machine in the same way as from the control-desk or diagnostic computer.
In this way, maintenance or the elimination of a fault can be carried out from virtually any desired distance. Thus, for example, it is possible for a machine to be set up in Japan while the person carrying out the maintenance is seated in front of a service computer in Germany.
All these advantages may be implemented by the machines mentioned at the beginning being connected to a network by means of an appropriate interface or, in accordance with the method of the invention, by data being exchanged with the diagnostic or control-desk computer and/or the service computer via the network.
In connection with the invention, xe2x80x9cnetworkxe2x80x9d is to be understood to mean a network with one or more machines and, in particular, at least one computer.
The invention is further based on the finding that the capability of a packaging machine or its efficiency can be increased considerably if developments on the machine which lead to possible faults or faults which actually occur are detected early, and appropriate countermeasures can be taken. This finding is implemented in such a way that optical or visual monitoring elements monitor critical areas of the packaging machine, which cannot be looked at by the operating personnel, or only with a relatively great deal of effort. As a result, on the one hand, faults occurring in such areas can be detected and appropriate countermeasures can be taken. On the other hand, however, an incipient faulty development in particular the increasing contamination of elements which are important to the function, can be recorded and made visible by means of the monitoring element.
According to the invention, the pictures recorded by the monitoring element or by the camera are visualized, preferably on a screen assigned to the (packaging) machine, at best with an enlargement of the recorded detail.
The optical monitoring element according to the invention can also be used to produce still pictures of moving elements and to display them on a screen, in order to make movement sequences, in particular folding steps on packs, visible. The still pictures can be produced with the aid of an illumination system assigned to the monitoring element, using the stroboscopic effect.
According to the invention, the camera for observing hidden or covered areas of the machine is equipped with a deformable fibre-optic cable, that is to say in particular a line with glass fibres. The line can be constructed in such a way that a light-conducting or glass-fibre strand with a recording means, that is to say an objective, at the free end and, if appropriate, a number of light-conducting strands for transmitting light, that is to say for illuminating the area to be observed, are combined to form one line. This line can have different lengths, depending on its use, for example up to 1 meter in length.
Further details of the invention will be explained in more detail below using the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a packaging machine or parts of the same as a preferred application example, in a schematic side view,
FIG. 2 shows a detail of the packaging machine according to FIG. 1 as a detail, on a much enlarged scale,
FIG. 3 shows an optical monitoring element for a packaging machine according to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2,
FIG. 4 shows a cross section through a line in the monitoring element according to FIG. 3, on an enlarged scale,
FIG. 5 shows a screen with the enlarged representation of a detail recorded by the monitoring element according to FIG. 3, and
FIG. 6 shows a network comprising a local network with a number of packaging or producing machines, as well as a WAN for using the local network with a service computer.